International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission)
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Technological and Institutional Interdependences and SDI – The Bermuda Square?
Get PDFInformation and communication technology (ICT), information infrastructure (II), geographic information system (GIS), and spatial data infrastructure (SDI) have interdependences. However, there has not been systematic exploration of their dependences, and therefore the nature of their relationships is not precisely known. Here, we use the “Bermuda” metaphor to initiate the discussion on which one of them enable and which ones constrain the others and how so. We argue that, by providing generic technological base, ICT and II potentially enable GIS and SDI; GIS and SDI mutually support and enable each other; and GIS and SDI do offer important contents to ICT and II services. The effective use of each of the ICT, II, GIS and SDI is enhanced by others. Thus, with the Bermuda Square model, we reveal that a greater social impact will ensue when we consider the whole square instead of treating its parts separately
Understanding how and why practitioners evaluate SDI performance
Get PDFPractitioners around the world are building frameworks for spatial data interoperability and cross-agency coordination, referred to as spatial data infrastructure (SDI). In this study, we attempt to understand how and why SDI practitioners ‘on the ground’ are evaluating their ‘own’ efforts in developing such frameworks. For this purpose, we mobilize concepts from ‘control’ evaluation, as well as from public sector evaluation research, because ‘control’ evaluation appears to be the approach most favored by SDI practitioners, and SDI evaluation is unfolding within public sector settings. ‘Control’ evaluation emphasizes operations, supports rationalistic investment decisions and efficiency analysis, and typically is based on measures such as ratios, percentages, and indexes; evaluators act as auditors, controlling, ranking or assessing success.
We examine and classify several recent examples of SDI ‘control’ evaluation by using the concepts of ‘timing’, ‘perspective’, ‘formal demand’, ‘use’, and ‘input specificity’. Our study reveals that the most comprehensive practices have resulted when ‘control’ evaluations have been in compliance with a demand from an executive agency, such as a central budget agency, and when there has been specificity of inputs. We anticipate that these dimensions are key to the institutionalization of SDI evaluation and point to the need for further research to understand how such evaluation practices emerge
Introduction to the International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research
Get PDFThis paper introduces the new International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research and set out its rationale and aims. The paper is organized into four main sections discussing the recent development of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI), the reasons justifying a specific research effort on SDIs, the areas of research that are currently central to their further development and use, and their relationships with research in the field of GI Science. An overview of the current research effort at the Joint Research Centre in this field is also presented
Challenges and Issues for SDI Development
Get PDFThis paper aims to introduce and discuss six challenges and issues facing the development of SDIs which will be able to meet the sustainable development objectives of society. These issues and challenges include:
- SDI to facilitate spatially enabled government
- Role of government, private and academic sectors
- Development of SDI vision, mission and road map – where are we heading?
- SDI to facilitate integration of natural and built environment datasets
- SDI to support marine administration- Seamless SDI model
- Capacity building
Current research within the Centre for SDIs and Land Administration in the Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne in the context of these meeting these challenges and issues is also discussed
What’s Special about SDI Related Research?
Get PDFFour challenging areas for SDI related research are discussed in this paper. These are SDI diffusion, SDI evolution, data sharing in SDIs and the hierarchy of SDIs. What’s special about this kind of SDI related research, then, is the insights and understanding of the processes involved in SDI development that can be gained from examining critically with the help of conceptual frameworks and models that have been rigorously tested in other fields